Though the Warriors have yet to receive an invitation to visit the White House in the wake of their championship season, one of their superstars already has decided he would not participate. Kevin Durant, the NBA Finals MVP who grew up practically in the shadow of the White House, said he would not visit. "Nah, I won't do that," Durant told ESPN on Thursday. "I don't respect who's in office right now." Bravo for Durant. For speaking up when so many others are silent and, by acknowledging that this is an individual decision, proving he is willing to stand on a personal set of principles. Visiting his hometown of Seat Pleasant, Md. for “Kevin Durant Day,” the forward didn’t mention President Donald

Matt Barkley, the Chicago Bears’ 3rd-string quarterback last season, saw significant time in seven games for the 2016 version of the Bears. In five of those seven games he threw two or more interceptions, and all five were losses. In his clean games, the Bears managed to go 1-1, including a narrow 20-17 loss to the Lions and a 26-6 beatdown of the pathetic San Francisco 49ers. Barkley was just about as bad as a quarterback can be, and served as a microcosm of what went wrong for Chicago both in terms of execution and luck last season. The Bears have been a joke to Packers fans for awhile now, and last year’s 3-13 record wasn’t exactly unexpected. But underneath the surface of this bottom-feeder,

After 37 years of fishing, Deadliest Catch captain Johnathan Hillstrand decided it was time to retire. Hillstrand managed to find the crustaceans, and it wasn’t too long before his tanks were too full to hold anymore. As the last crab pot was being pulled up, Hillstrand said of his retirement, “Hasn’t resonated in my head yet, but I don’t believe this is real.

Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt, who suffered an injury in the final leg of the 4x100-meter relay at the world championships in London last weekend, released a medical scan of his hamstring injury over Twitter on Thursday, then later deleted the tweet. When Bolt sent the original tweet, he said he did it after listening to “people questioning if I was really injured.” The eight-time Olympic gold medalist was in tears on the track after pulling up in his last race ever on Saturday. Bolt won’t appear in the Manchester United Legends match next month due to the injury. “Sadly I have tear of the proximal myotendineous junction of biceps femoris in my left hamstring with partial retraction. Three months

The story of the St. Louis Cardinals and Rally Cat officially has more twists than an M. Night Shyamalan film. The cat, which became an unofficial mascot for the team after sparking a late-inning comeback, is now involved in a custody battle between the Cardinals and the nonprofit center that found the feline. The situation escalated Thursday after Cardinals vice president of communications Ron Watermon released a statement saying the team expected the center to return “our cat” after a mandatory 10-day waiting period, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. “The St. Louis Feral Cat Outreach organization has assured us they will be returning our cat to us after a mandatory 10-day quarantine period,” Ron Watermon, the team’s vice president of communications, said in an email to a reporter Wednesday.

The carnage of this Mets season can be traced to two distinct factors, each with its own poster child. On one poster the word “injuries” would be spelled out in block letters, and below it Noah Syndergaard’s picture — perhaps with the pitcher in “Game of Thrones” attire — would appear. The other poster would spell out “underachievers” in block letters and give us Robert Gsellman’s mug shot. You can make the case Steven Matz is just as worthy of placement on the second poster, but given the fact the Mets’ season was already decimated by the time the lefty went haywire, Gsellman gets the nod. That’s the same Gsellman who had a 7.07 ERA when he was yanked from the rotation in mid-May and sent briefly

It's that time of year again! SI Swimsuit Casting Call season is upon us, and you're in for a real treat. For the first time ever, we held an open casting call to find our next big star. After receiving thousands of Instagram submissions from women around the world, we invited 35 finalists to SI's Brooklyn offices for an in-person interview and photo shoot. From there, it wasn't easy, but we narrowed down the list our Top 15, who made history during Miami Swim Week as they walked the runway in SI's first branded swimwear show. So how about we get to know your Top 15 a little better? Next up is the gorgeous ! Dessie has been in the industry for the past six years and is a huge advocate for petite

The Boston Celtics signed All-Star forward Gordon Hayward to a four-year, $127 million contract during NBA free agency to bolster their already impressive roster. On Wednesday, he posed in a Celtics jersey and shorts for the first time and posted a photo to his Instagram. A post shared by @gdhayward on Aug 16, 2017 at 5:10pm PDT Yep, that’s going to get Celtics fans excited for the upcoming season. In addition to Hayward, the C’s also selected former Duke star Jayson Tatum with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2017 NBA Draft. The Celtics were within three wins of the NBA Finals last season, and they’re better equipped to take the next step with Hayward in the fold. Basketball season can’t get here

Seattle defensive end Michael Bennett has been the most outspoken of late, among the players protesting during the national anthem by sitting or raising a fist.
And he’d like to have a little more help in the effort — specifically from a white player

Malcolm Jenkins has been raising his right fist during the national anthem since the 2016 season. On Thursday night, Eagles defensive end Chris Long stood next to him with his arm around Jenkins’ shoulders, per ESPN’s Tim McManus. Long played his college football at the University of Virginia, located in Charlottesville. The display of unity comes five days after violence erupted in the city on Saturday afternoon, where white nationalists rallied, and a car plowed through counter-protesters, killing one. Long spoke out on the incident on Monday. “Some people are tired of hearing me tweet because they want me to stick to football but I like to use social media like I was a regular guy because

Denny Hamlin announced the birth of his second daughter Wednesday afternoon, welcoming Molly Gold Hamlin in a Twitter post. Hamlin’s girlfriend, Jordan Fish, gave birth to Molly on Tuesday, five days after the original due date. The couple announced they were expecting their second child together in February. Molly joins older sister, Taylor, who is seen holding the baby in a picture Hamlin posted. The Joe Gibbs Racing driver had substitutes on standby during the last two Cup races at Watkins Glen and Michigan in the event Fish went into labor during either race weekend.

Ronaldo's outburst came after the Spanish soccer federation ratified his suspension, which was announced on Monday. The Real Madrid forward will miss the second leg of the Spanish Super Cup against Barcelona later on Wednesday. Madrid holds a 3-1 advantage.

Where better to start than with the most obvious fit? Stanton has expressed frustration about playing for a losing team. With four straight NL West titles (and a fifth all but mathematically locked up), the Dodgers are the antithesis of that. Of course, the trade can’t only please Stanton. It has to please Miami, as well. Fortunately, the Los Angeles can do that. If the Marlins are looking for a pure salary dump, the Dodgers have the money to take his contract on. The current ownership group has certainly shown a willingness to spend big since taking over. If Miami is looking to get good value back, Los Angeles can make that happen, too. The Dodgers still have one of baseball’s best regarded

Earlier in August a game between the St. Louis Cardinals and Kansas City Royals was briefly interrupted by a feisty kitten that ran onto the field. After being gathered and taken off the field by an attendant, Yadier Molina stepped up to the plate and hit a grand slam, launching the Cardinals into a lead that would hold until the end of the game. After the game, there was a bit of confusion regarding the cat's custody. According to a statement from the team, a woman claimed the cat was hers, moved to take the cat home, but then lost track of it in City Garden. Eventually, the cat was found by volunteers involved with nonprofit St. Louis Feral Cat Outreach, where it is still being cared for as of Thursday.

Two-time U.S. Open participant Chris Crawford was disqualified from the U.S. Amateur during the second round when he realized his caddie was using the slope function on his distance-measuring device. Crawford, 23, was making his fifth start in the U.S. Amateur. After an opening-round 73 at Riviera Country Club, he was 2 under on his round at nearby Bel-Air Country Club and in position to make the 64-man match-play portion for the first time when he realized something might be wrong. According to an ESPN report, Crawford's intended caddie had gotten ill which led him to hire fill-in caddies for each of the first two rounds. On the second day, he knew based on the information his caddie was providing

Notre Dame has become the punchline to a bad joke over the last 12 months. From fringe contender for the College Football Playoff last August to 4-8 and a coach in Brian Kelly firmly entrenched on the hot seat, things have changed quite a bit in South Bend since Manti Te'o and Everett Golson led the Fighting Irish to the BCS National Championship Game following the 2012 season. Kelly is still blaming everybody but himself. In a story published Thursday by Matt Hayes of Bleacher Report, Kelly blamed fundraising during the season for a football-only facility on 2016's woes. "I was the absent professor," Kelly told Hayes. "I wasn't paying attention to the details that we needed. There were internal

The Golden State roster is locked in with 15 guaranteed contracts set for next season. Sources: Free agent Georges Niang signed partial guarantee with Golden State. Niang was drafted in the second round, 50th overall, out of Iowa State in 2016, by Indiana.

A few months ago, the Baltimore Ravens shipped center, Jeremy Zuttah, out of town in a trade with the San Francisco 49ers for a 2017 sixth-round draft pick. Zuttah spent three years, from 2014-2016 as the starting center for the Ravens, and was coming off two down years heading to the Bay Area. Baltimore, meanwhile, were ready to move on from Zuttah with the likes of Ryan Jensen and John Urschel to compete for the starting center spot. Even at guard, the team had starter Alex Lewis, and also rookie, Nico Siragusa, for depth. Things seemed okay until Urschel retired, along with season-ending injuries to Lewis and Siragusa. Furthermore, Zuttah didn't last that long as a 49er, as he was released

At a time when many around the nation are talking about a search for some sense of unity, a pair of football players gave us a picture of it Thursday night. As the national anthem played before the Eagles-Bills game, Eagles safety Malcolm Jenkins raised his fist in a silent protest, as he has since last year. The difference this time, was Eagles defensive end Chris Long stood next to him, with his arm around Jenkins’ shoulders.

It’s been a rough summer for Brandt Snedeker. The 36-year-old hasn’t played since a T-14 finish at the Travelers Championship in June due to injury, and announced Wednesday he is shutting it down indefinitely in order to get healthy. “I would first like to thank everyone for their well wishes over the last few weeks, it has meant a lot to me,” Snedeker posted on Twitter. “Unfortunately I have not progressed in my rehab like we would have hoped and therefore will be shutting it down for an indefinite period of time until I get back to 100% healthy. My sternum joint has become unstable and does not allow me to hit a golf ball without pain. My medical team and I are looking into every option to

Jose Mourinho will not sign another player for Manchester United this summer but instead wait for the transfer window to reopen in January, according to reports. Mourinho has already spent around £150 million (about $193 million) on improving his United squad ahead of his second season as manager at Old Trafford. Victor Lindelof, the Swedish center-back, was the first through the door this summer from Benfica for £31 million ($40m), followed by Belgian striker Romelu Lukaku for £75 million ($97m) from Everton.

If this wasn’t a pennant race heating up Wednesday, it was at least enough heat to get Joe Maddon’s blood boiling — hotter than first baseman Anthony Rizzo said he’d ever seen Maddon. The situation took place in the bottom of the ninth after the Cubs had blown a five-run lead against the Reds but had put the first two men on in a tie game. That’s when Ben Zobrist was hit in the left shin by a pitch trying to bunt. But after taking his base, he was sent back by first-base umpire Chris Conroy, who inexplicably ruled that Zobrist had offered at the ball as he tried to twist out of the way. Maddon stormed from the dugout and argued so vehemently and explicitly that it took only a few seconds for

Stephon Gilmore’s lack of participation in Tuesday’s New England Patriots-Houston Texans joint practice was the result of a coach’s decision, the cornerback revealed Wednesday. “I just stayed out,” Gilmore said, via the Boston Herald’s Jeff Howe. “I felt like it was a good time. I had to listen to the coaches and whatever they wanted me to do. They wanted me to stay out, so I stayed out. “I was just sitting back and observing, studying the game from the sideline, taking mental reps.” Gilmore, who watched Tuesday’s practice in full pads, returned to action Wednesday and, according to Howe, looked “terrific in coverage” against the Texans’ wide receivers. “Coming out here and finally getting to